The Last War
by Katheryne B
Summary: After the battle of Winterfell, the remaining forces join in preparing for the last war. Amidst of it all, knights, soldiers and many others struggle with the ultimate goal and the sacrifices that come with it.
1. Chapter 1

"_You don't understand," said Jaime. "It has to be me."_

"_No…No… please," answered Brienne fighting off tears. Gods, he's never seen her like this before._

"_You are trying to prove yourself, you don't have to do this, not for me, please." she said again._

_Jaime like his heart was going to sink._

"_My sweet Brienne," he added, resting his forehead against hers, "My sweet, honorable and brave Brienne…I am not proving myself to anyone. I am neither doing this for someone but for everyone. It has to be me. You have to let me go"_

_Brienne was crying now and, unlike Jaime was expecting, was not fighting him. Physically, he might have not been strong enough to stop her, but right now, something bigger was preventing her from acting. Jaime leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers; then looked at her straight in her bright blues eyes._

"_I love you," he said, "I always will" he reached up and kissed her forehead, then turned around and left running towards Maegor's holdfast._

* * *

**A few months before**

_So many casualties_, Jaime thought to himself.

The remaining force of the army now stood outside the walls of Winterfell as they watched their leaders light funeral pyres.

Jaime's thoughts went to Ser Jorah Mormont, whose pyre was being light by Daenerys Targaryen. He had been such a brilliant fighter; a hero of the siege of Pyke just like himself. Gods; it seemed so long ago now.

Brienne of Tarth stood next to him; strong, honourable Brienne. It was because of her that he came here, turned on Cersei and travelled all they way here to fight for the living. It was because of her that Daenerys and the Starks spared his life. Without her, he was no one.

By now, Jaime was sure enough of his own feelings; Brienne was more to him than a friend or a companion. Actually, he loved her.

It had taken him a long time to figure it out and when Jaime went back and thought about it, he was pretty sure it all started when a gut feeling made him go back to save her at Harrenhal.

_Cersei,_ he thought

How far had he come from her? All these years, she had lied and conspired and murdered and…Her actions spoke for themselves, but when she asked him to go and bring her Tyrion's head, it was the beginning of the end for Jaime.

And now he was here, at Winterfell, unable to admit his feeling to the woman he loved.

Not for from there, stood another Lannister; Tyrion Lannister, youngest son of Tywin Lannister.

And he could clearly see is older brother standing next to the most brilliant fighter Tyrion had ever seen. What a pair they made. By now, Tyrion had pretty much caught on his brother's feelings towards the Maid of Tarth. But, there was absolutely no doubt of her affections.

It had all started the way she had defended him against Daenerys's allegations. And, of course, the way she looked at Jaime. It was unmistakable.

Two nights ago when Jaime stood to knight her; Tyrion guess everyone in the room saw the connections between the two of them…everyone except probably Jaime and Brienne of course.

_Where had she been when I needed a champion?_ Tyrion thought

Gods how much would he like to see her face and kill The Mountain; the face his father and sister would have made…what a great joke!

Tyrion had to contain his laughter. Today was not a day for jokes.

They had won a great victory, but at great cost. His gaze went from Daenerys, to Sansa, to Jon Snow. Who would have thought they would be standing here today, and Cersei all by herself (at least almost), alone in King's Landing. Tyrion knew very well what came next.

The next war was the war for the Iron Throne.

The pyres were almost all gone and time was passing by slowly.

_Time to start planning, again_, he thought

Tyrion turned around and started to walk back toward the great hall but on his way stopped to speak with Ser Davos Seaworth.

"Ser, I need you to assemble everyone in the great hall. There is work to be done."

Ser Davos only nodded in response.

* * *

I'm finally trying to put out there a fantasy scenario of mine...

If anyone out there is interested of hoocked, please review and follow

Cath


	2. Chapter 2

They all sat around the large table in the great hall; the same table that, not long ago, had served to plan the defenses of Winterfell.

The silence as brutal; clearly everyone was beaten down and tired.

"How many sellswords did you say formed the Golden Company?" asked Jon Snow

"20 000" said Jaime "That is according to Cersei of course. I left before they arrived in King's Landing. It could be just a rumour."

Silence filled the room again.

"It won't be enough." Said Sansa

"We have no choice," answered Daenerys. "We have won the great war, now we will win the last war."

"How?"

"By landing siege to King's Landing."

This time, it was Tyrion that spoke.

"Just like Stannis Baratheon tried a few years ago. Only this time, it will work. Cersei is no general for sure and this time there is no Tyrell army to come to the rescue and there is certainly no Tywin Lannister either. The greatest seasoned warriors left are in this very room."

"What about Euron Greyjoy?" asked Brienne

"Euron Greyjoy's army is used to fight on the sea," said Jaime "If, for example, the Greyjoy fleet was set ablaise, things my be different."

"Also, almost everyone who knows King's Landing inside and out are here. Varys, Ser Davos and even myself have been sneaking around the city for years. Cersei knows some of it but not all." Said Tyrion

"Won't she see it coming?" asked Daenerys "Since you used that knowledge during the battle of The Blackwater…"

"Maybe, but it's all we've got." Said Tyrion "Now, we will march the remaining army South…"

The sight of this room was actually pretty inspiring, Jaime thought to himself. Everyone was pitching in with his or her thoughts and ideas. The most amazing was Sansa Stark. She was the perfect combination of Ned Stark and Catelyn Tully; smart, caring and strong. Jaime imagined if his father was still alive he would say to be careful around her and he suddenly felt very lucky to be among these people. Jaime then vowed to himself that he would ask for a private conversation with Lady Stark afterwards.

When Jaime started to focus again on what was going on, he realized people were now bunched over the map and had, apparently, hit a problem.

"The only problem is our numbers." Said Jon "Even at the gates of the Capital we wouldn't be enough to storm the walls and infiltrate the city from within."

Silence filled the room again.

"What about Yara Greyjoy's forces?"

"Her numbers are too few…"

"But she has ships." said Daenerys "She has hips and I, still have 2000 strong loyal men in Mereen.

Jaime exchanged looks first with Brienne, then with Tyrion.

"The second sons. " said Greyworm

"Yes." Said Daenerys

"If Yara Greyjoy can ferry them and Daario Naharis to Westeros then we stand a chance at siege. It could last years though." Said Tyrion "And then…"

"Then, we cut the head of the snake." Said Jaime interrupting his brother. "We dispose of Cersei, kill Euron Greyjoy and the city will be in chaos."

"It might just work." Said Ser Davos Seaworth

Tyrion starred at his brother. He had a hard time to believe the words that had actually come from Jaime's mouth…Probably everyone in this room did, except perhaps, Ser Brienne who completely trusted Jaime with anything. Her feelings for Jaime were quite obvious, except to only probably Jaime.

What a fool he was sometimes.

The plan seemed to be settled. The first steps were of course to send word to the Iron islands and wait for Yara Greyjoy's answer.

People started to exit the room and Jaime gathered is courage to walk to Lady Sansa. He felt all the other Stark eyes on him.

"Lady Stark."

"Ser Jaime."

"Could I have a private conversation?" he asked "With you and you siblings?"

Sansa nodded and Brienne and Podrick, who were standing next to her, left the room. Before fully exiting, Brienne gave one last glance at Jaime but he didn't see her.

"I wanted to express my gratitude for what you said to Queen Daenerys when I arrived. I am grateful more than you can imagine and it was an honor to fight here last night. But, I feel that I must apologize to you all and beg for forgiveness for the trouble and pain I caused to house Stark."

Jaime now was kneeling in front of the remaining members of the Stark family: Jon, Sansa, Arya and Bran. Bran, who was just a boy that he pushed out a window in hopes to kill him because of Cersei, Sansa who was mentally and physically tortured by his sister and his son, Arya and Jon, thank the gods, had had very few encounters with him in the past.

Jaime fought his hardest to fight away the tears in his eyes.

It was Sansa who first spoke.

"Arise Ser Jaime." She said, "Living in the past doesn't help anything…"

"It only strengthens the future." Said Bran, "Everything happens for a reason and what you did brought you here and that's what matters."

"I agree." Said Jon

The only one who hadn't said anything was Arya Stark. For some reason, it scarred Jaime a little.

"I also did terrible things and, if all my family trusts you, then, so do I." said Arya "It is us who are honored to have you amongst our ranks. I am looking forward to fight alongside you in the future."

Jaime couldn't help but smile a little and hoped that, Ned and Catelyn's ghosts were looking down on them right now.

* * *

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Cath


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